|
Author
|
Comment
|
juliet raven
Unregistered User
(9/3/03 2:20 am)
|
phd research proposal
I am considering doing a PhD next year but first I need to come up with a research proposal. I am interested in the transmission of fairy tales and/or myths: their historical background and the symbolism found within the stories. Has anyone got any suggestions for possible titles for my thesis?
|
janeyolen
Registered User
(9/3/03 4:28 am)
|
Re: phd research proposal
Mouth to Ear: How Fairytales and Myths are Transmitted
Word of Mouth:How Fairytales and Myths are Transmitted
Jane
|
RymRytr1
Registered User
(9/3/03 1:29 pm)
|
Re: phd research proposal
The History and Symbolism of Ancient, Verbal Tales.
|
Valkith
Registered User
(9/3/03 1:54 pm)
|
Re: phd research proposal
I like Jane's "Mouth to Ear: How Fairytales and Myths are Transmitted."
However, Mouth, Ear, Transmitted...kinnda sounds like a medical thesis... maybe how Fairytales and Myths Grow.
OR
The Whens, Wheres and Whos of 'Once Upon a Time'
|
Jess
Unregistered User
(9/3/03 6:42 pm)
|
Mouth to Ear to Hand?
I wonder: are you focusing solely on the oral transmission of fairy tales/myths or are you intending on including the transcription of tales, literary tales, and modern retellings?
Jess
|
juliet raven
Unregistered User
(9/4/03 5:32 am)
|
phd proposal
Thank you everyone for your suggestions, they have been most helpful. In reply to Jess, I would like to cover all modes of transmission, from oral to written to film etc etc... I am particularly interested in how fairy tale and myth is woven into modern works of literature by such authors as Angela Carter and Margaret Atwood. I am also interested in the darker, gothic-like elements employed in a lot of stories.
|
denag
Registered User
(9/4/03 5:55 am)
|
phd thesis title
The Golden Thread and the Tapestry: the path of myths and fairy tales through generations of story-telling
|
AnamariaAnders
Registered User
(9/4/03 11:12 am)
|
Re: phd thesis title
I like the way the first part of denag's title picks up on juliet's use of the metaphor of weaving in the previous post. It would work especially well if juliet's thesis focused on the transmission of one particular story (the "golden thread"), or textile-themed stories (of which there are many) in general.
Thesis titles are often something like "Catchphrase: Topic." A good place to look for catchphrases is in the texts you're working with: sometimes a quote will work, or a play on key words. As for the topic statement, you might want to be fairly specific, so people searching for recent bibliography on, say, Bluebeard, are sure to come up with your thesis.
Don't worry too much about your title at this point. It helps to have one, of course, but you'll be tweaking it throughout the writing process.
I'll try to come up with some for you!
Best, A.
|
denag
Registered User
(9/4/03 12:26 pm)
|
titles
Anamaria is right, i think.
I didn't decide on a title for my MPhil thesis until the rest of it was written.
it was really while writing the introduction that I worked out what i was trying to say. but the intro got tweaked quite a lot when i got round to the concluding chapter.
once all that was over, i felt it safe to think of a title and say "this is what i have written about". that was when i wrote the abstract too.
|
juliet raven
Unregistered User
(9/5/03 8:50 am)
|
phd research proposal
Yes, I liked denag's suggestion about the golden thread and the tapestry, but also the idea of the path. It made me think of winding paths through dark forests leading to enchanted castles which could be symbolic of the history of fairy tales.
I get what denag and Anamaria are saying about not needing to have a specific title yet. I'm really only after ideas to be going on with. I'm trying to decide which 'path' to take through what is a huge, dense forest.
I've just had a thought: what about looking at the darker elements of the earlier stories (ie, sex, horror etc) and exploring how they have gradually become more sanatized as they've evolved?
|
Jess
Unregistered User
(9/5/03 2:24 pm)
|
None of my business
but don't you want to write a Phd thesis on an original topic. I think the one you suggest has been done many times with people looking at a variety of aspects. Before you jump into this, perhaps you should think about what ideas you have that might be original or add a different perspective. If you can do that with the subject proposed, great! Otherwise, you are dealing with such a broad topic, I think perhaps you could do something REALLY new and exciting.
One thing I find interesting is how various stories come in and
out of vogue depending upon who is transmitting the tale, how they
are being transmitted, and to whom. Now perhaps you could tie in
various cultural mores and show how the morals of the times caused
the tales to be either santized or desantized for their intended
audiences. (Aside: I love the way we are now rediscovering the darker
past of some of these tales, and of course, retelling them.) Or
perhaps just look at why certain tales became popular at all (not
even examining the darker elements). So much to cover, so little
time.
Jess
|
Terri
Registered User
(9/6/03 10:12 pm)
|
Re: None of my business
Juliet, you mention that you're particularly interested in how fairy tales are used in modern literature by writers like Angela Carter and Margaret Atwood. That alone is a broad and wonderful topic, in that there are so many fine writers working with fairy tales in contemporary adult fiction today. Are you also aware of all the writers of fairy tale literature who are publishing in the fantasy field, such as Delia Sherman ("The Porcelain Dove") and Tanith Lee ("Red as Blood: Tales from the Sisters Grimmer")? The "Snow White, Blood Red" anthology series alone contains original fairy tale fiction by over fifty authors.
There's also a lot of good, sophisticated work with fairy tales being done by authors of Young Adult fiction like Donna Jo Napoli ("Zel"). And then there are writers like Jane Yolen ("Briar Rose") and Robin McKinley ("Beauty") who are read by teenagers and adults alike.
Forgive me if you know all this already! (But if you don't, here's
a list -- by no means complete, but a good starting point -- of
contemporary fairy tale titles: www.endicott-studio.com/list-fairyTale.html.
And have you seen Kate Bernheimer's excellent book "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales"? It's got terrific essays by Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, and many others.
Edited by: Terri at: 9/6/03 10:27 pm
|
Rosemary
Lake
Registered User
(9/7/03 9:48 am)
|
'dark' as subject
It does seem to be rather a popular topic over the last several years. :-)
One slant might be, to distinguish things the audience at the time considered 'dark' (what term did their culture use?) from things that just appear that way to us.
For example, dancing in red hot shoes was a common torture method. When the king sentences the convicted villlian to that, the audience might feel what we would feel if she had been sentenced to life imprisonment: a stern punishment, but not cruel or unusual. I suspect the same is true of execution by being rolled downhill in a spiked barrel.
In general, old cultures used more physcal punishments, less imprisonment. In a society where a pickpocket might have his hands cut off, birds pecking out the villians' eyes might also not seem 'dark'.
Also note which 'dark' deeds are done by the villians, which they are punished for.
It seems to me that 'dark' things accepted by the audience, would be a small category.
R.
|
juliet raven
Unregistered User
(9/9/03 9:04 am)
|
phd research proposal
Thank you Terri for that interesting book-list: some of them I already have, some others I have considered getting, but there were quite a few that I hadn't even heard of. I notice you mentioned 'The World's Wife' by Carol Ann Duffy but not 'Rumpelstiltskin and other Grimm Tales' in which she writes her own wonderful versions of some much-loved tales - I would definitely recommend it (partly because I'm a former student of hers but mainly because it is such a good book for anyone who is interested in fairy tales).
Thanks also to everyone else who has responded so far. It's interesting what you say, Rosemary, about 'dark' deeds being relative to different cultures. That would certainly be worth looking at.
|
Terri
Registered User
(9/10/03 1:21 am)
|
Re: phd research proposal
Juliet, no, I hadn't come across the Duffy book. Thanks for the tip!
|
